[True Story] The shoes.

My brother sat on a bench outside Gaspar’s Grotto, where one of his bands had played during brunch. A man in his 20s sat on the bench across from his, and struck up a conversation.

“Any good bands playing?”

“Mine just finished,” my brother said. “Another band’s up next.”

The man looked at my brother’s feet. “What kind of shoes are those?” he asked.

Reluctantly, my brother answered.

“…um, Nautica flip flops?”

Then, in one fell swoop, the guy got off the bench, asked whether my brother’s shoes have bottoms, leaned toward the ground and licked the bottom of my brother’s flip flop.

[CENSORED!], my brother shouted while he jumped to his feet.

The man fled.

– – – –

Totally happened this afternoon outside Gaspar’s Grotto in Ybor City. At lunch afterward with the band, my brother Googled “shoe licking” to find out if it’s some kind of fetish. But before he finished typing, the first option Google gave him was “shoe licker Tampa.” The Shoe Licker even has a Facebook page.

This post is part of a series of true stories, called “True Story.” Click here to read all the posts in the series.